Moelis & Company, the advisory firm set up last year by Ken Moelis, the former president of investment banking at UBS who spearheaded the Swiss bankâs growth in the US market, plans to open a London office this year.

The move could come as early as July, according to bankers close to the business, a year after Moelis opened in the US.

Last week Moelis’ firm emerged as an adviser to US internet search provider Yahoo!, which is the subject of a brewing battle between software company Microsoft and News Corporation, the owner of Financial News’ parent company Dow Jones.

Moelis is understood to have talked with several London-based investment bankers about heading the business, but has made no firm offer.

The move into the London market is part of a plan by Moelis to expand the firm outside the US, with Dubai and Shanghai two likely future outposts.

It is also 10 years after Greenhill & Co, the US advisory boutique founded by Morgan Stanley banker Robert Greenhill, hired James Lupton and Simon Borrows, the former heads of Barings’ UK corporate finance business, to set up and run a London office.